Chapter 1

David Chambers trudged along behind professor Abbott, cursing his luck. As an anthropology grad student, he expected to have to play serving boy to whatever professor he got posted to, but why did he have to get posted to professor Abbott?

Not that professor Abbott was a bad anthropologist, anything but. He was, although somewhat unorthodox, one of the best in the field. Unfortunately, in the field, he was as hard on his grad students as he was good at teaching in the class. He literally used his appointees as slave labor, and because grades and further field work relied upon his recommendation, whoever got assigned to him had to take it. And David was this trip's unfortunate victim.

It might be different if David saw a point to what he was doing, but what the professor was doing was ludicrous. The professor had latched onto the old myth of Aphrodite suddenly appearing on a shell from the sea and determined that somewhere in the Atlantic was the hidden birthplace of the goddess of love. Now he was slogging through the jungle of a tropical island in search of... something that even the professor couldn't say definitively what it was.

David, carrying a pack full of supplies, was forced to stop to catch his breath. After a few seconds, he heard the professor demand his attention. He took a step forward, shifted his pack, and lost balance. It was only for a second, and he only took one misstep, but it was one too many. When he put his foot down, the ground caved in and he fell into a tunnel.

He rolled down a steep incline, the pack being ripped from his back. When he stopped, he landed on his back, something sharp penetrating his body. He looked down, barely able to raise his head, and saw a sharp rock sticking out of his chest, the blood seeping out of the wound. He heard the professor call out for him and he tried to call out to the professor, but could barely manage to get enough air to croak out a whisper. He heard the doctor walk away, and tried one more time to call out, but was no more successful than the first time.

After a while of silence, he said, to no one in particular, "Help me, I'm dying."

He expected no response, but was surprised when the area was flooded in light and he heard a melodious female voice say, "What is it you desire?"

He looked over and saw a cylinder of light beaming down from high above where he could see. Inside the light was a cylinder of stone about two feet high. Floating above the stone was a jewel of some kind, and although it was a little too far away to tell for certain, it looked like a ruby carved in the shape of a heart.

"Who's there?"

"Although I have gone by many names, you know me by the title of Aphrodite."

"The Goddess of Love?"

"No, I am the essence of love. Aphrodite, the goddess, was my Avatar."

"Oh, great, I'm hallucinating."

With an amused tinkle, the voice said, "Then what would be the harm in asking for help?"

David thought he was going crazy, but he couldn't argue the voice's point. "I want to live."

"I can't change that. Without an avatar, I cannot directly change the life of any mortal."

"Then what can you do for me?"

"I can bring someone here to you. When I return them, they will not remember, but at least you will not die alone. And you will get one last chance to say good-bye."

David thought about it. Did he really have the right to make anyone else live through his death? Probably not, but he was so afraid and so alone. He blurted out, "Nicole. My girlfriend, Nicole. I want to say good-bye to Nicole."

"As you wish."